There are thousands of computers and millions of emails bouncing across the internet from every corner of the world. It is an environment ripe for fraud and tricksters. I was recently at a client location and they were reading some new emails. This is a client who has had many run-ins with malware (viruses), trojan horses and spyware. Thankfully they now have a first class anti-virus software installed on their computer but this does not mean good computer security habits can be ignored. As I watched they started to move the mouse to click on a link in an email. In horror, I spoke up, “do not click on that!”
This client knew they should not do that but it was a habit hard to break. You can never be sure of the original source of an email even if sent from a friend. Why, because if they have a email spam bot on their computer it could forward and send out spam and phishing emails with malicious links just waiting for you to click and go to a website serving up the latest malware and trojan horses.
Here is what to do when you receive an email with links. Try to decipher what the link is about such as some news blurb, a joke, a product or something else. Next, use your favorite search engine and use the key words to search and find the same information.
Be extremely cautious about emails claiming to be from your financial institution. Never click on links in these even if you are sure it is legitimate. Instead, type the financial institutions web address into the Internet Browser to reach their web-site. Be sure to type the web-site exactly and if you are prone to typing errors consider first using the search engine to get the correct link or create a Favorite / Bookmark in the Internet Browser. This way you are much less likely to end up at a phishing site just waiting for you to enter your email, password and account information.
So, next time you see a link in an email, DO NOT click on it!
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